ArcelorMittal, in $5-bn bid for Australia's Macarthur Coal

Peabody Energy has teamed up with ArcelorMittal to offer $5 billion for Australia's Macarthur Coal, the world's biggest producer of pulverised coal, as demand for steel-making raw materials intensifies.

The cash offer of A$15.5 a share represents a 40% premium to Monday's close and comes just a day after Australia unveiled a plan to tax carbon emissions from the nation's worst polluters, or about 500 companies, including coal miners.